For Foucault, the role of prison in the modern world is not just to punish criminals but to maintain power over them. This is done by using a divide and rule method, keeping each "prisoner" or civilian separate so there can be no revolts or revolutions. An individual is in the minority if they are kept as an individual, isolated and removed from society rather than left to gain support.
Individuals are also constantly being monitored by a higher power who remains invisible to them. This is represented by Jeremy Bentham's panopticon, where prisoners can be seen at all times but do not know if they are being watched. Foucault points out how this mirrors other parts of society; "Is it surprising that prisons resemble factories, schools, barracks, hospitals, which all resemble prisons?" All of these every day establishments use a divide and rule method in the same way that prisons do.
This 'carceral system' began as a reaction to the plague. Authorities created a situation with "everyone locked in his cage ... answering his name and showing himself when asked." This was all in the name of "safety", but in reality it was to maintain control over people, with guards left "to observe all disorder, theft and extortion." This is a direct example of how "panopticism" can be used bu something other than a prison to keep order amoungst masses of civilians.
Everyone within this system is "disciplined" as an individual. Prisoners are monitored by timetable and ranks controlling the time and space of their movement, strongly reflecting the way things work in present day schools. After reading "Discipline and Punish", it is possible to see how the image of the prison and particualrly the panopticon, have been applied within society to control the general public.
Foucault M. Discipline and Punish (1975)
James Rogan
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Thank you James, very accurate and precise, I think that you have presented a very precise and accurate account of Foucault. Not bad work at all for a small blog post, and I have to say the same goes for everyone. I had never really thought of this in terms of divide and rule, which is very simple but extremely effective way of thinking about this.
ReplyDeleteAs well as this, there might be something a little more perverse about the way Foucault lays out the Panopticon. While the modern world is the individual, divided, and individuating, in many ways the panopticon states that this individualization is never alone. The guard or the monitor is always there. In this sense, this corresponds in some ways to what Weber described as the tragedy of the Protestant work ethic, an individual who placed in a constant state of self-auditing, analysis. In a way this remains the ultimate alienation/individualization. We are alone when there is the presence of another. This could only I imagine produce a very torrid metal headscape!